The Los Angeles Sparks secured a hard-fought 81-80 win over the Dallas Wings despite a historic showing from Paige Bueckers. Dallas’s star rookie scored 44 points on 17-21 shooting from the field, as the Sparks’ defense had no answer for her. They also had no answer for the Wings’ 3-point threats, allowing Maddy Siegrist, Luisa Geiselsöder, Haley Jones, and Bueckers to combine for 11 made threes on 57.9 percent shooting from behind the arc.
Nevertheless, the Sparks were able to edge out the win after Kelsey Plum put them up by one point at the buzzer. Despite the win, Plum wasn’t exactly thrilled with her team’s effort.
Right after the game, Plum said, “We gotta play some f——ing defense.”
The Sparks have been excellent offensively since mid-July, but their defense is still a few steps behind. With a 17-18 record, the Sparks are half a game behind the Seattle Storm for the final playoff spot. Any game could decide the Sparks’ playoff fate. They only have nine games left in the season, seven of which are against other playoff teams with big-time scorers. If the Sparks cannot consistently get stops, they may struggle to string together enough wins to secure a playoff spot.
The Sparks excel offensively
After a notable turnaround in July, the Sparks are now chasing one of the final playoff spots. Big offensive games catapulted them into the conversation, as they regularly hit the 100-point mark to outscore their opponents. The Sparks have the fourth-best offensive rating in the league behind the top three contenders in Minnesota, Atlanta, and New York. They average 86.4 points per game for the season
Between Kelsey Plum, Dearica Hamby, Azura Stevens, and Rickea Jackson the Sparks often find enough offense to simply outscore their opponents. That is usually the easiest way for the Sparks to succeed because they are not good defensively.
Los Angeles currently sports the second-worst defensive rating in the league. Only the Chicago Sky struggle more on that end of the floor.
The Connecticut Sun, Chicago Sky, Washington Mystics, Golden State Valkyries, and Dallas Wings rank in the bottom five in offensive rating. Nevertheless, all of those teams have been able to score a lot of points against the Sparks. The Sky scored 97 and 92 points against the Sparks, exceeding their average points per game by twenty points. Connecticut was able to reach between 86 and 91 points three times against the Sparks—at least ten more points than they usually average.
The Sparks just haven’t been able to consistently stop opponents from scoring. Against the Wings, for example, they produced enough offense to battle back from an early deficit, but didn’t defend consistently enough to maintain the lead they established in the second and third quarters.
The Sparks missed one of their best defenders for most of the season
Cameron Brink has only played nine games so far this season, meaning that the Sparks played a long stretch without one of their best defenders. Brink’s size and ability to block shots change the way opponents can attack the Sparks. Brink alone may not be enough to improve the Sparks’ defense enough to secure a playoff spot or to find success in the postseason, though. Others will have to step up as well.